This is an example of a rare type of Cycladic figurine known as steatopygous, characterised by a fleshy abdomen and huge thighs and buttocks, all undoubtedly indicative of nourishment and fertility. In contrast, the figure’s upper torso is flat in profile with the arms typically framing V-shaped breasts.

There are many examples of such figurines in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Original Cycladic figurines, carved in marble, were produced during the third millennium BC. They are remarkable for their abstract simplicity, which is believed to have inspired modern day artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore.

Cycladic art originates from the Cyclades, a group of islands in the southwestern Aegean, comprising some thirty small islands, including Naxos and Paros, which were known for the quality of their marble. The ancient Greeks called these islands the Cyclades, imagining them as a circle (kyklos) around the sacred island of Delos, the site of the holiest sanctuary to Apollo and the island thought to be the birthplace of the god and his twin sister Artemis. Our collection of Cycladic figures are reproductions of originals in the national Archaeological Museum in Athens and in the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens.

On the detail page, she is shown with her two (much!) larger sisters! Click here to see the trio of our steatopygous figurines.